Anthony Louis's Blog, page 35

The Birth Chart of Arthur M. Young

Recently I began reading Nested Time, the autobiography of Arthur M. Young. According to wikipedia, “Arthur Middleton Young was an American inventor, helicopter pioneer, cosmologist, philosopher, astrologer and author. Young was the designer of Bell Helicopter’s first helicopter, the Model 30, and inventor of the stabilizer bar used on many of Bell’s early helicopter designs.” It is a fascinating story of a bright and creative person who developed an abiding interest in astrology.

On page 6 of his book Mr. Young, a gifted and careful scientist, gives his birth data as 10:23:38 GMT on 3 November 1905 at 48N42, 2E20. He tells us that this is a rectified time and that the nurse who attended his birth in Paris had written 10:15 as the birth time. He later learned that in 1905 Paris was on Greenwich STANDARD Time (not GMT), so that there was about a 9 minute difference between GMT and GST, which justified his rectification based on astrological principles.

In addition, even though the nurse from Paris wrote the time in a letter to his mother, the coordinates he gives for his birth are not in Paris proper but are a bit south of Paris and match the coordinates of Morangis, France.  Because Mr. Young repeats these coordinates in all the appearances of his natal chart in the book, we can assume that he was born at latitude 48N42 a bit south of Paris, whose latitude is 48N52. Thus, the chart posted in AstroDataBank is a tiny bit off since is it cast for Paris proper rather than for Morangis, France. Below is my best reproduction of the chart which Arthur Young used for himself throughout the book (which I cast with Placidus houses and the true node).

[image error]

One of the events Mr. Young cites as verification of this chart is the death of his brother Sandy on 24 August 1927.

If we look at the primary directions for this period (Placidus semi-arc, Ptolemy’s key, with latitude), we find:

[image error]

Note that almost on the exact date of his brother’s demise primary directed Saturn conjoined his natal Moon — a remarkable coincidence. From the point of view of Whole Sign Places, the Moon rules the 8th Whole Sign of death and occupies the 3rd Whole Sign of siblings. Saturn, a natural signifier of loss and death, both occupies and rules the 3rd Whole Sign from the Ascendant.

 

Musings on ayanamsas

Ayanamsa (also ayanabhāga) is a Sanskrit term which refers to the longitudinal difference between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs. Many ayanamsas exist so that Vedic astrologers may give different readings, depending of their ayanamsa of choice.

The beginning of the tropical zodiac is precisely defined as the intersection of the sun’s path with the celestial equator at the vernal equinox. The beginning of the sidereal zodiac has no mathematically precise definition so that practitioners are free to choose from a variety of starting points, which are within a range of about 6 degrees of each other.

According to wikipedia:

“Ayanamsa is mostly assumed to be close to 24° today, according to N.C. Lahiri, 23.85° as of 2000. This value would correspond to a coincidence of the sidereal with the tropical zodiac in or near the year 285 AD, roughly compatible with the assumption that the tradition of the tropical zodiac as current in Western astrology was fixed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century.”

Unfortunately, there is not universal agreement that the two zodiacs coincided in the year 285 CE. Some astrologers believe that they did not coincide until much earlier or later. The range of ayanamsas can be as much as 6 degrees apart, as can be seen in the list of some common ayanamsas for the year 2000 CE:

Raman: 22d 24m 25s
Lahiri: 23d 51m 11s
Fagan-Bradley: 24d 44m 12s
Larry Ely: 28d 00m 13s

Because Lahiri is probably the most popular ayanamsa, I decided to look at the sky in Alexandria, Egypt at sunset on the vernal equinox in the year 285 CE. Using the program Stellarium, I generated the following image.

[image error]

This sky map of Alexandria Egypt at the vernal equinox of 285 CE shows how the zodiac constellations appear at sunset. The meridian goes through the very beginning of Cancer.

In the above figure for the year 285 CE we are looking South toward the Equator (blue line) from Alexandria, Egypt at sunset on the day of the Vernal Equinox. The Sun is just setting at 0 Aries in the West where the ecliptic (orange line) meets the horizon (curved green line). Because it is the Equi-nox (equal lengths of day and night), the Equator (blue line) crosses through this point as well.

The vertical green line in the center is the meridian, which is passing through 0 Cancer — the Summer Solstice point that marks the beginning of the sign Cancer.  Notice that the sign Cancer begins just after the fixed star Pollux of Gemini passes over the mid-heaven. In addition, the fixed star Spica of the constellation Virgo is just rising on the eastern horizon.

Because the constellations of the zodiac are not equal 30-degree signs, we can observe a wide discrepancy in the size of the constellations. Starting at sunset in the West, we see that one of the Fish of the constellation Pisces falls within the domain of the sign Aries. (This fish at the beginning of the constellation Aries may have a connection to the fish of the nakshatra Revati at the end of sidereal Pisces.)

[image error]

The rear end of Aries overlaps with part of the Bull. There is a clear demarcation between the Bull and the Twins, and between the Twins and Cancer, and between Cancer and the Lion. The tail of the Lion hits the Virgin in the face, and the Virgin’s thighs and legs extend well into the constellation Libra, the Scales.

In fact, astronomers give the following dimensions to these constellations of the zodiac:

Pisces: 37 degrees
Aries: 24.5 degrees
Taurus: 37 degrees
Gemini: 28 degrees
Cancer: 20 degrees
Leo: 36 degrees
Virgo: 44 degrees
Libra: 23 degrees
Scorpio: 6.5 degrees (plus 18.5 degrees for Ophiucus)
Sagittarius: 33.5 degrees
Capricorn: 28 degrees
Aquarius: 24 degrees

Because the constellations have such variable sizes, one can see, for example, why astrologers needed to include one of the constellation Pisces’ fishes into the beginning of the sign Aries.

In addition, the zodiacal distance from the star Pollux at the very end of Gemini to the star Alterf (the first star in Leo’s jaw) measures only 24d 39m of arc, so that the 30-degree sign Cancer includes part of the head of the constellation Lion.

Furthermore, the zodiacal distance from Al Hecka at the tip of the Bull’s horn to Pollux in the shoulder of the Twins measures only 28d 26m of arc, so that the tip of the Bull’s horn belongs to the sign Gemini.

The above figure is consistent with the Lahiri ayanamsa (and those which are close in value to it). It is impressive that the fixed star Spica is rising just as Pollux has finished culminating, giving way to the first degree of the sign Cancer crossing the mid-heaven. One can also see the symmetry of Cancer and Gemini across the solsticial axis, which is the basis for antiscions. It seems reasonable that any ayanmasa of value would have to keep Pollux at the end of Gemini on the opposite side of the meridian from Cancer at sunset on the day of the vernal equinox.

 

Kepler College Webinar on Antiscions

[image error]

Several people asked if they could still view the webinar of August 10th even though they had not registered in advance.  I checked with Kepler College and got the following response:

Here is a link to the recording of the antiscion webinar at Kepler College. https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/9009361294785466881

Once you register at the above link, you will be able to immediately view the recording.

The Pope’s Near-death Experience

In a recent online seminar offered by Nestor Echarte of Argentina we discussed the chart of Roman Catholic Pope Francis (aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio).  I was intrigued when the teacher mentioned that as a young man the Pope had to have part of his lung removed to save his life, which was being threatened by a severe lung infection.

Checking several biographical sources, I learned that in August 1957, during the year following his entrance into the Buenos Aires Seminary, Pope Francis came down with a life-threatening fever accompanied by choking and pleurisy. Despite antibiotic treatment he continued to worsen and was taken to the hospital, barely able to breathe. He was diagnosed with pneumonia due to cysts on the right lung, and the doctors decided to operate to remove the cysts and the upper part of his right lung.

His condition continued to worsen until an experienced nurse took the initiative to substantially increase his antibiotic dose, which led to an improvement in his condition. He spent a month recuperating in the hospital and was in a great deal of pain during the recovery. Apparently this near-death experience had a profound impact on his decision to continue with the priesthood and in November of 1957 he took the first step toward becoming a Jesuit priest. As Mark Shriver in his book Pilgrimage writes:

[image error]

This episode raises several questions in the mind of an astrologer:

Is lung surgery indicated in his natal chart?
Is so, what predictive techniques indicate lung surgery, hospitalization and a near-death experience in August of 1957?
Are there indications in the birth chart that his health crisis contributed to his decision to continue with the priesthood as his vocation?

According to his birth certificate, Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 17 December 1936 at 9 pm.  Here is a copy of his birth certificate:

[image error]

The official birth certificate of Pope Francis (Jorge Marioi Bergoglio) indicates that he was born at 9 PM on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires.

And below is his natal chart in the tropical zodiac with Placidus houses.

[image error]

Natal chart of Pope Francis cast in the tropical zodiac with Placidus houses. Rated AA, from Birth Certificate.

At 9 pm the MC has just moved into Taurus, so that if he were born just slightly earlier the MC would have been in Aries. In this chart, Venus rules the MC and conjoins the Ascendant-ruler Moon in Aquarius in the 7th house. Venus is the benefic of the nocturnal sect in a night chart, which seems fitting in the chart of a man who would become Pope. Jupiter, which rules the Placidus 9th of the church, closely trines Uranus in the 10th of profession, which also seems fitting for this progressive Pope.

Health issues are connected to the 1st house (the body), the 6th (bodily ailments), the 8th (mortality and near-death experiences) and the 12th (involuntary confinement, hospitalization, debilitating illness). Inflammations and fevers are related to Mars, and the lungs symbolically have to do with Mercury, Gemini and the 3rd house. One would expect these factors to be prominent in predictive techniques during the August 1957 period.

Zodiacal Releasing

Let’s begin with zodiacal releasing from the Part of Fortune, which has to do with health issues and material well-being.

[image error]

In his zodiacal releasing from the Part of Fortune in 1957, Pope Francis was in

Gemini on Level 1:  Gemini is related to the lung and is on the cusp of the 12th house of debilitating illness and hospitalization. Mercury, which rules Gemini, closely opposes the Ascendant degree.
Aquarius on Level 2:  Aquarius is on the cusp of the 8th house of death, near-death experiences and surgery. Saturn, which rules Aquarius, lies in the 8th house.
Leo on Level 3 (3 Aug – 21 Sep, 1957):  Leo is on the cusp of the 2nd house and its ruler, the Sun, lies in the 6th house of illness which it conjoins the Moon’s nodal axis (the position of a recent eclipse) and opposes Chiron (the wounded healer and teacher) in the 12th. In Vedic astrology the ruler of the second Whole Sign from the Ascendant is considered a maraka (“death-causing”) planet, which can challenge the vitality of the individual. According to Vic DiCara, “the 2nd and 7th houses are supposed to be ‘maraka’ houses – houses that detract from health and bring death.” In addition, the Leo 2nd house in this chart is the 12th turned house from the natal 3rd house of the lungs. This Leo sub-period on Level 3 coincides with his pneumonia, hospitalization, lung surgery and month-long recuperation in the hospital.

The symbolism of zodiacal releasing from Fortune certainly fits the events of 1957.

Distributions

Next, let’s look at the primary directed chart. Below, I advanced the birth chart by about 4 minutes for every year of life to arrive at a “primary directed” chart for August of 1957 in which I allowed the planets to move forward at their normal rate rather than keep their natal positions.

[image error]

The “primary directed” natal chart with the natal angles advanced to August of 1957, at which time the directed Ascendant lies in the 2nd degree of Leo, which is in the bound or term of Jupiter.  The most recent past aspect to the region of the directed Ascendant was the square from natal Mars in Libra in the natal 3rd house (the lungs). Thus, the distributor or divisor for this period (Aug 1957) is Jupiter (ruler and occupant of the natal 6th Placidus house) and his participating or partner planet is Mars (a symbol of infectious disease and surgery) in the 3rd. If we allow the modern outer planets to be partners in this technique, the bound-ruler Jupiter has Pluto has his partner during this August 1957 period.

As you can see, in August of 1957 the primary directed Ascendant lies in the Jupiter bound of Leo. Natally Jupiter rules and occupies the 6th house of illness.

The most recent past aspect by one of the seven traditional visible planets to the Ascendant degree is the square from Mars in Libra, which will remain active until the directed Ascendant reaches 7 Leo 40 and the opposition from Venus becomes active. Mars rules surgeons and surgery and in the natal chart occupies the 3rd house of the lungs.

If we include the outer planets in this technique, then the most recent planet to aspect the directed Ascendant was Pluto which (without latitude) lies in the Saturn bound of Cancer that was active from April 1952 through November 1955 (see table below). Pluto in mythology was lord of the underworld and is a modern symbol of crises, profound life-altering transformations, death, rebirth and near-death experiences.

If we analyze Pluto with its latitude, the body of the planet came to the Ascendant by primary direction in March of 1957 and was active at the time of the Pope’s illness in August of 1957:

[image error]

The above data is summarized in the following table of distributions (divisor/distributor and participating or partner planet) calculated in Janus software.

[image error]

If we were to include the outer planets in this technique, the conjunction of the body of Pluto with the Ascendant would be inserted into the above table in the Jupiter bound of Leo for the date 29 March 1957 and thus would be the partner to Jupiter in August of 1957.

Firdaria

If we consider the firdaria of the Pope, we will find that Jupiter (ruler and occupant of the 6th of illness) is also activated in August of 1957.

[image error]

It is interesting that the Jupiter/Jupiter firdar begins on his 20th birthday in 1956 and the Jupiter/Mars sub-period of the Jupiter firdar extends from Sep 1957 when he is recovering from surgery through May of 1960 when he has entered and committed himself to the Jesuit Order.  Mars rules Aries in the 9th house of church matters in his natal chart.  If he were born shortly before 9 pm, Mars would also rule the 10th house of career.

Primary Directions

Finally, let’s consider his primary directions at age 20 when he nearly died. The following list is from Janus software and shows the Placidus semi-arc primaries with the Naibod key, without latitude.

[image error]

In this list we seen that the square of Mercury (lungs, 3rd & 12th ruler) comes to Saturn (8th ruler) in July of 1957 very close to the time of his near-death experience and lung surgery in August of the same year. In addition, we saw in the discussion of distributions that the the body of the planet Pluto (with latitude) came to the Ascendant at the end of March 1957 and was active at the time of the Pope’s near-death experience in August of 1957.

Secondary Progression

The only secondary progression active during August of 1957 was the progressed Moon at 19 Scorpio 30 semi-sextile natal Mars, which perfected on 27 July 1957 and was in effect from the beginning of July until the end of August. Despite older texts which claim that the semi-sextile (30 degrees) is mildly favorable (like a mini-sextile), it is in fact much more like a stressful quincunx (150 degrees) and often indicates problems with health.  In this case the progressed Moon (1st ruler, the body and its vitality) semi-sextile Mars (fevers, inflammation, surgery) correlated with Pope Francis contracting pneumonia and needing surgical intervention. The position of Mars in the 3rd house (the lungs) indicated the area of the body which would undergo the surgery.

Tertiary Progression

A tertiary progression equates a day with a lunar month. Calculating the Pope’s tertiary progressions for the beginning of August 1957, we find the tertiary progressed Moon at 16 Pisces 14, almost exactly conjunct natal Saturn in the natal 8th house. In addition, the tertiary progressed Ascendant lies in Aries, and its ruler Mars lies in the natal 6th house of illness, conjunct the Lunar North Node.

[image error]

The inner chart is the birth chart of Pope Francis. The outer chart is his tertiary directed chart for 01 August 1957. At the beginning of August the tertiary progressed Moon is conjunct natal Saturn in the 8th house. The tertiary directed Ascendant lies in Aries and its ruler Mars lies in the 6th natal house of illness close to the Moon’s North Node and the position of the pre-natal eclipse.

Reflections on Secondary Progressions

Secondary progressions are one of the most commonly used predictive techniques in modern astrology.  They are often attributed to the 17th century monk Placidus de Titus but their origin dates back at least as far as Vettius Valens in the 1st century CE.

The idea behind secondary progressions is quite simple: each year of life is regarded as symbolically equivalent to each successive 24-hour period after birth. In other words, each tropical year of life is equated to one solar day after birth: the 365.2419 days after birth correspond symbolically to the 24 hours of solar time after birth.  Secondaries are sometimes called “a day for a year” progressions.

[image error]

This is a screenshot of a web page that will calculate your secondary progressions for free: https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/astrology-secondary-progressions-directions-chart

Vettius Valens was clearly referencing “a day for a year” when he wrote (italics & bold mine):

“… add a number of days to the birth date equivalent to the age (in years) of the native.  Then, having first determined the date, whether in the following month or in the birth month itself, cast a horoscope for that day.  which star, if any, is in the Ascendant or is coming into conjunction with another star, and whether it is moving from an angle to a point following or preceding an angle, or from a point preceding an angle to an angle, or whether it was rising at the date of the delivery but is now setting or coming to some unrelated phase, or to something better.  You may consider these to be the periodic forecasts.”  — Vettius Valens, Anthologies, Book IX, Ch. 3, Mark Riley trans., 2010, p. 154.

Interestingly, Placidus, who is often credited with having invented secondary progressions, may have had something else in mind.

In an essay on “Placidean teachings in early 19th century Britain” Martin Gansten notes that Placidus suggested equating each lunar month (i.e., synodic month of 29.531 days) after birth with one year of life:

“Placidus wrote of his new prognostic techniques: ‘We call these motions the secondary directions, to distinguish them from the primary and principal; and we are of opinion, that Ptolemy, speaking of annual places, is to be understood of the places of those motions, and when of the menstrual, hints at the places of the progression’ (Cooper, Primum Mobile, p. 25). Today, secondary directions – equating the motions of the celestial bodies on each day following birth with the corresponding year of life – are generally known to astrologers as secondary progressions or simply progressions, while the ‘progressions’ of Placidus – equating each synodic month with one year of life – seem largely to have fallen into oblivion. There is no mention of either technique in Ptolemy, who, in the place referred to by Placidus (Tetrabiblos IV.10), was in fact writing about yearly and monthly profections. The reference to Kepler occurs in connection with Placidus’ argument for a connection between astrology and musical harmonies, also mentioned by Ptolemy; see Cooper, Primum Mobile, p. 79.”  — Martin Gansten in Placidean teachings in early 19th century Britain.

If Gansten’s interpretation of this passage in Cooper’s translation is correct, then Placidus may have misunderstood Ptolemy who was writing about monthly profections rather than directions (aka, progressions). It is possible, however, that Gansten understood the word “menstrual (monthly) in the above passage to mean monthly profections when, instead, “menstrual” was referring to critical days indicated by the hard aspects of the moon (every 7th day): “for the Moon, almost every seventh day, is placed in the critical place with respect to her place in the nativity.”

Here is the relevant passage from John Cooper‘s 1814 translation of the Third Book of Primum Mobile by Placidus, which is quoted by Gansten (bold and italics mine):

—–

“65. Authors are divided, as to measure in direction; for some take the whole degree of the equator, for all and every one of the years; others, the Sun’s motion of the natal day: some, the Sun’s mean motion; whilst many more vary in their computations. But we, to the first year after the natal, take that part of the equator in which the Sun ascends in a direct sphere, by the motion of the first day following the nativity; to the second year, that which ascends by the second day’s motion; to the third, that which he ascends the third day after the nativity; and thus of the other subsequent ones: for we would have the directional motion successive, and always formed towards the succeeding places, and the Sun’s motion each day to be referred to, as the cause and rule to every year, as to their effects, in the same order and number.”

“66. But because the primary and principal motion of direction is derived from the motion of the Sun on the days following that of the nativity, as has been said, it consequently happens, that by some secondary means, the aspects that are made to the luminaries and angles on those days, jointly assist the significators of the primary directions; for this reason, we say, that the days whereon these aspects happen are very powerful in those years, which answer to those days, and on which they depend. From those motions, in preference to the rest, appears the true, real, and hitherto unknown, foundation of the critical or climactrical years; for the Moon, almost every seventh day, is placed in the critical place with respect to her place in the nativity; and (which is very important) experience wonderfully proves the truth of it; as may be seen in the examples extracted from Argol and Maginus. We call these motions the secondary directions, to distinguish them from the primary and principal; and we are of opinion, that Ptolemy, speaking of annual places, is to be understood of the places of those motions, and when of the menstrual, hints at the places of the progression.”

— John Cooper’s 1814 translation of the Third Book of Primum Mobile by Placidus.

—–

Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the case examples from Argol and Maginus, mentioned in Cooper’s translation, to know whether Placidus was referring to equating one synodic month to one year of life, as Gansten suggests, or to equating each day after birth to one year of life — which is the method as understood by the 18th and 19th century British astrologers who promoted the teachings of Placidus.

Musings on Days and Sidereal Time

I like to review periodically some basic concepts of astronomy to get a better perspective on what we do as astrologers. Perhaps the most basic idea of all is the length of a day, which is based on the rotation of the Earth. Usually when we say “day” we are referring to the 24 hours of a mean solar day, which is the average length of time it takes the Sun to appear on the meridian of a location twice in a row. We are accustomed to using the Sun to tell time, and one complete daily cycle of the Sun around the Earth (from our position as observers on this planet) is allotted 24 hours, giving us our 24-hour-clock mean solar day as a unit of measurement.

Just as there is a mean solar day, whose duration is based the appearance of the Sun on the meridian of a location from one day to the next and assigned the value of 24 hours, there is also a mean sidereal day, which is the average length of time it takes a fixed star (hence sidereal) to appear on the meridian of a location twice in a row.

The following image from wikipedia illustrates the difference between a solar day and a sidereal (fixed star based) day:

[image error]

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  In the above diagram you can see that the Earth makes a complete rotation in 23h 56m 04s relative to the fixed starts but it needs another 3m 56s of travel on its orbit for the meridian (m) of the observer to align with the Sun.  Covering this additional distance on its orbit adds a little less than one second of “correction” to the sidereal time of the moment when the Sun aligns with the meridian, so that every 24-hour day the ephemeris adds roughly 3m 57s to the previous day’s sidereal time, as you can see in the ephemeris example later in this post.

A sidereal day refers to one complete rotation of the Earth on its axis, as measured against the fixed stars. Each complete rotation of the Earth requires 23 hours 56 minutes 4.0905 seconds (or 23.9344696 hours) of 24-hour-clock time — which is almost 4 minutes shorter than a mean solar day. What happens during those extra 4 minutes? 

Wikipedia gives the following explanation: “Earth makes one rotation around its axis in a sidereal day; during that time it moves a short distance (about 1°) along its orbit around the Sun. So after a sidereal day has passed, Earth still needs to rotate slightly more before the Sun reaches local noon according to solar time. A mean solar day is, therefore, nearly 4 minutes longer than a sidereal day” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_time).

In other words, the Earth keeps moving along its orbit, and after about 4 minutes the MC of the observer finally aligns again with the Sun. The implications and underpinnings of the Earth continuing along its orbit around the Sun after having made a complete rotation on its axis are the following:

A sidereal year (the amount of the required for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun with respect to the fixed stars) has a duration of 365.256363004 mean solar days.  A mean sidereal year is longer than a mean tropical year by 20 minutes 24.5 seconds.
A tropical year (the amount of time needed for the ecliptic longitude of the Sun to increase by 360 degrees, taking into account the precession of the equinoxes) has a duration of 365.242190402 mean solar days.
Solar time is measured by the apparent diurnal motion of the Sun.
Local Noon in apparent solar time occurs when the Sun crosses the observer’s meridian.
A mean solar day is the average length of time between consecutive local solar Noons over the course of a year.
A mean sidereal day has a duration of 23 hrs 56 min 4.0905 sec of solar 24-hour-clock time (23.9344696 hours of solar time).  This is the amount of time required for the Earth to make one complete rotation on its axis with respect to the fixed stars.
Both solar time and sidereal time are based on the daily rotation of the Earth about its North and South Poles. The difference is that solar time also takes into account the movement of the Earth on its orbit around the Sun to measure one rotation of the Earth, whereas sidereal (star-based) time measures the Earth’s rotation with reference to the fixed stars. These are simply measure of time from different perspectives. An observer on the Sun of our solar system would measure the Earth’s rotation in solar time. An angel looking down on the entire universe from heaven would measure the rotation of the Earth in sidereal time.
The Earth makes a complete rotation every 23.9344696 hours of solar time, and the length of the mean tropical year is 365.242190402 solar days. Thus, we can divide the length of the year by the amount of time for each rotation to calculate the number of complete rotations of the Earth per tropical year:  (365.242190402d x 24h) divided by 23.9344696h = 366.2419 complete rotations of the Earth per tropical year.
A mean solar day therefore has a duration of 24 hrs 3 min 56.56 sec of sidereal time .  [If you look in the ephemeris, the sidereal time listed for each day is approximately 3 min 57 sec of sidereal time later than that of the previous day.]
The Naibod Key for Primary Directions is a based on the mean daily motion of the Sun, which Naibod calculated to be about 59′ 8″ of arc per day is equivalent to one year of life, according to the calculation: 360 degrees in a complete circle divided by 365.242190402 mean solar days in a tropical year.  [More precisely, 360 degrees divided by 365.242190402 = 59′ 8.33″ of arc.]

Those astrologers who calculate (or have calculated) natal charts by hand know that we must use the sidereal time of birth to identify the MC of the chart.  Astronomers use sidereal time to indicate when (at what time) a celestial object will appear in the sky and celestial latitude above or below the Celestial Equator to indicate where that object will be located. Knowing the sidereal time and latitude of a star, astronomers are able to properly point their telescopes to view it.

Sidereal time is a measure along the Celestial Equator of the arc between the March Equinox (where the path of the Sun crosses the Celestial Equator in March) and the meridian of the observer. Because sidereal time is a measure both of time and of angular distance (an arc), it can be expressed either in hours, minutes and seconds, as on a clock, or in degrees of Right Ascension along the Celestial Equator. By convention 0 Aries is assigned to the March Equinox in the tropical zodiac, and thus 0h 0m 0s of sidereal time corresponds to 0 Aries on the ecliptic.

The reason that astronomers use sidereal time is that at a given location on Earth a celestial object will appear at a particular position in the sky with reference to the Celestial Equator at the same sidereal time every night. Sidereal time differs from our usual 24-hour-clock time, so it is necessary to convert between them, kind of like Americans converting from Dollars to Euros when they travel to Europe. To see how this conversion works, let’s take a look at an ephemeris.  Below is a section of the Astrodienst ephemeris from September of 1945.

[image error]

We see that on 1 Sep 1945, the sidereal time (ST) at 0 hours in Greenwich, UK, is 22h 39m 10s.  Twenty-four hours or one solar day later (2 Sep 1945) the sidereal time (ST) is 22h 43m 7s.  The difference between these two values of ST is 3m 57s.  (During this 24-hour period the Sun has advanced along the ecliptic by 58′ 6″.)

As can be seen in the second column of this ephemeris, every solar day of 24 hours, the sidereal time increases by 3m 57s from the previous day. This difference between solar and sidereal times is sometimes called the “acceleration interval” or the “solar-sidereal correction.” To be more precise, for every hour of solar time that passes on the conventional clock, the sidereal time increases by that solar hour plus an additional 9.8333 seconds (hence the idea of an “acceleration interval”).  This rate is often rounded to 10 seconds of additional sidereal time for every one hour of solar time, which is equivalent to roughly 1 second of additional sidereal time for every 6 minutes of solar time.

For example, we saw previously that each complete rotation of the Earth (one sidereal day) requires 23 hours 56 minutes 4.0905 seconds of 24-hour-clock time. The solar day does not commence until about 4 minutes (or more precisely, 3m 56s) later than the sidereal day.  During the roughly 4 minutes between the sidereal day and the solar day, the acceleration rate indicates that we must add about 0.65 seconds of solar-sidereal correction to the 3m 56s to get the sidereal time at the start of the solar day. Performing the addition, we get the 3m 57s that appears in the ephemeris as the difference in sidereal time between one solar day and the next.

 

Quadrant Houses at High Latitudes

One of the vexing problems of astrology is that at high latitudes the quadrant house systems are of little use.  Horoscopic astrology is founded on the importance of the ascendant and at high latitudes the ascendant disappears for long stretches of the year.

[image error]

Image from wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Azimuth-Altitude_schematic.svg

By definition the ascendant is the point where the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun) intersects with the horizon of the observer.  At high latitudes there are long periods when the Sun (the ecliptic) never rises or never sets, that is, when the ecliptic does not cross the horizon.  At latitudes of about 66.5 degrees there are times of day when the circle of the ecliptic corresponds to the circle of the horizon, so that every point on the ecliptic becomes and ascendant.  How can one do horoscopic astrology when there is no horoskopos (ascendant) or when every point is an ascendant?

Charles Carter attempted to solve this problem by proposing a system of “poli-equatorial” houses in which “the houses are demarcated by circles passing through the celestial poles and dividing the equator into twelve equal arcs, the cusp of the 1st house passing through the ascendant. This system, therefore, agrees with the natural rotation of the heavens and also produces, as the Ptolemaic (equal) does not, distinctive cusps for each house….” (Ch. 8, Essays on the Foundations of Astrology, 1947).”  The problem with Carter’s approach is that the ascendant determines the starting point on the equator to be used for dividing it into 12 equal segments.  If there is no ascendant, it is impossible to calculate the “poli-equatorial” houses.

David Cochrane has proposed another creative solution. In his YouTube video The Ascendant disappearing at the Arctic Circle: Problem Solved! Cochrane suggests that at high latitudes we use the prime vertical with its Vertex as the cusp of the 7th house and the Anti-Vertex as the substitute Ascendant degree.  Here is a screenshot from his video in which David Cochrane explains that, in his view, the Anti-vertex becomes increasingly strong at higher latitudes as the Ascendant becomes increasingly weak in a kind of reciprocal relationship (at latitude 45 degrees, the Ascendant and the Anti-vertex are of equal strength).

[image error]

Many years ago I did a careful study of house systems and tried on my own to come up with a solution to the problem of the disappearing ascendant at high latitudes.  What I came up with turned out to be identical to the Morinus house system in which neither the Asc nor the MC form cusps of the houses but which hardly anyone uses.

Another solution is to use what are called “whole sign houses,” which are really not “houses” in the sense of a quadrant system based on the rotation of the Earth, but rather places (topoi) based on the ordinal numbering of the signs and the importance of numerical order in early Hellenistic thought.  The Whole Sign system, however, has the same problem of the disappearing ascendant because the first sign is determined by the horoskopos, which may not exist at high latitudes.

Having thought about the issue of house division for many years, I had the following idea which is partly based on my study of antiscions, which are reflected degrees across the solticial axis.  I agree with David Cochrane that the ascendant functions well up to mid-latitudes but not at high latitudes.  My idea is to cast charts above 45 degrees latitude with a “reflected” latitude below 45 degrees (but still using one’s preferred house system, such as Placidus).

For someone born, for instance, at latitude 60 (which is 15 degrees above 45), one would cast a “reflected” chart for latitude 30 (15 degrees below 45), and someone born at the North Pole would have a “reflected” chart cast for the Equator.  This method would always produce a chart with an ascendant (or at least a “reflected” ascendant), thus avoiding the problem of the disappearing ascendant at high latitudes.  This method would obviously have to be tested with real people and known biographies to determine whether standard astrological techniques and interpretations would still be valid.

To illustrate, at the suggestion of a colleague I cast the chart of the deceased Finnish champion ski jumper Matti Nykanen for his birthplace and also for the latitude reflected across the parallel of 45 degrees of latitude.  Here are the two charts:

[image error]

In the natal chart for the birthplace Cancer rises, but in the “reflected” chart Taurus rises, which could possibly reflect his hedonistic lifestyle and the fact that he became a pop singer after he ended his skiing career.

He died at the age of 55 shortly after midnight on 4 February 2019, probably of complications of diabetes:

in the birth chart the profected ascendant came to Aquarius (the 10th Placidus house) at age 55, making Saturn his lord of the year.
in the “reflected” chart the profected ascendant came to Sagittarius (the 8th Placidus house) at age 55, making Jupiter his lord of the year.
at the time of his death transiting Jupiter at 18 Sagittarius was almost exactly trine natal Jupiter at 18 Aries 34, which lies in the 12th natal house in either version of the chart.  In the birthplace chart transiting Jupiter occupies the 6th house of illness whereas in the “reflected” chart transiting Jupiter occupies the 8th house of death and conjoins its cusp.

In this case, at least, the “reflected” chart appears to have some valid astrological symbolism, but a single case example does not prove a hypothesis and much more testing is needed to determine whether this is a valuable technique for studying charts of people born near the Arctic Circle..

 

Fast and Easy Primary Directions

Primary directions are one of the oldest predictive techniques in Western astrology.  Although they were widely used in classical and traditional astrology, they fell out of popularity in modern times because they were considered rather difficult to calculate in comparison with the more recent secondary progressions (introduced in the 17th century).  Modern software programs have now made primaries more accessible and they are regaining popularity.

The fact that modern computer programs often have a “chart animate” feature allows the user a quick and easy way to visualize how the directed chart will appear as the client ages.  The rule of thumb in primary directions is that each degree on the Equator (measured in Right Ascension) that crosses the MC equals one year of life.  Because it takes almost 4 minutes for one equatorial degree to pass over the MC, each 4 minutes added to the birth time advances the chart by about one year of life in the system of primary directions.

[A technical note: more precisely, one degree of Right Ascension equals 3 minutes and 59.34 seconds.  This figure is arrived at by dividing the length of the sidereal day (23.934444 hours) by the number of degrees in a circle (360 degrees).  If you want to use the more precise figure, you multiply your current age by 3 min 59.34 secs [3.989074 minutes] and add that result to the birth time to calculate the primary directed chart for your current age.]

An example will make this procedure clear.  Let’s consider the chart of actress Shirley Temple.  Her birth data, rated AA, from astro.com is

23 April 1928 at 21:00 (= 9:00 PM )


Place
Santa Monica, California, 34n01, 118w29


Timezone
PST h8w (is standard time)

Here is her natal chart:

[image error]

Now let’s consider a major health crisis.  In November of 1972 at the age of 44.54 years she was treated for breast cancer with a radical mastectomy.  The possibility of surgery for breast cancer is indicated in the “natal promise” of her chart in that she has Pluto in Cancer (breasts) in the 8th (life-threatening experiences) in close square to 6th house ruler Venus in her fall in Aries.   One might expect that when Pluto is activated by primary direction, that is, when Pluto arrives at the western horizon by primary motion, this natal promise might manifest.

To direct her chart at a rate of one degree of R.A. over the MC equals one year of life, we can multiply 4 minutes for year year of life by 44.54 years, which give the result 178.16 minutes.  If we use the more precise figure, we multiply 3.98907 minutes times 44.54 years, which gives a result of 177.673 minutes to be added to the birth time.

Her birth certificate says she was born at 9:00 PM.  To this time we add 177.673 minutes (which is 2 hours and 57 minutes and 41 seconds, so the the “primary directed birth time” for age 44.54 years becomes 11:57:41 PM.  Here is the chart set for this adjusted birth time:

[image error]

The above chart is basically the natal chart advanced by primary direction to age 44.54 when she had her breast surgery.  Pluto, which occupies the Cancer 8th house, is now on the Descendant and has just recently opposed the directed Ascendant, which lies in the Venus bound of Capricorn at 15 Cap 26.  Hence, by the method of distributions, the divisor for this period of her life is a fallen Venus in Aries, and its participating planet is Pluto which lies in opposition.  The symbolism fits perfectly with the natal promise of surgery for breast cancer, and the timing by primary direction is extremely close to the date of the surgery.

August 10, 2019: Antiscia in Western Astrology Webinar

[image error]

Primary directions as a time-lord system

In his book on Primary Directions Morinus makes clear that an event predicted by a primary direction rarely takes place on the date that the direction becomes exact.  Instead it may well occur within the several months before or after date of perfection of the direction.

Morinus viewed primary directions as indicators of the promise of the birth chart that  might manifest during a given time period, such as the solar return year, but he also felt that the direction would not manifest unless other astrological configurations triggered the events symbolized by the primary directions.  In fact, after primary directions, the annual solar return was the most important predictive tool in Morin’s system.  In my own experience, solar returns have proved to be an effective and reliable predictive technique.  To illustrate, I would like to discuss an example from Martin Gansten’s excellent book on primary directions.

On pages 112-113 of his book Gansten discusses the chart of a man who “was killed in a vehicle accident” at the age of 33 years and 9 months.  The Sun in the natal chart lies at 26 Leo (sidereal zodiac), which corresponds to a birth date of September 12th.  Nine months after September 12 corresponds to the period from about June 12th to July 12th.  Judging from the planetary positions in the birth chart, the year of birth must have been 1966, so that the death must have occurred between mid-June and mid-July of 2000.

Because I use the tropical rather than the sidereal zodiac, I recast the chart in the tropical zodiac with Placidus houses (my preferred system for natal astrology).  The birth data has been withheld as it was in the original text.

[image error]

In the tropical zodiac, Capricorn rises, and Saturn rules the Ascendant (the native, his health and vitality).  Saturn in Pisces in the 2nd Placidus but 3rd (local travel) whole sign house is without essential dignity in this chart and is also involved in a close sesquicuadrate with a peregrine Mars in Leo in the 7th Placidus but the 8th (death) whole sign house, so that there is a “natal promise” of a potential violent death while traveling.

Since we are studying this man’s death, we need to look at the 8th house.  Leo rules the Placidus 8th and Virgo in contained therein, making the Sun and Mercury signfiers of his death.  Leo is also the 8th sign from the ascendant, again emphasizing the peregrine Sun in Virgo as a signifier of death.  Furthermore, the Sun is part of a tight stellium involving Mercury-Uranus-Sun-Pluto all in the 8th house of death.  Mercury is a general symbol of travel.  Uranus suggests sudden unexpected disruptions and breaks in routine.  Pluto is associated with intense and powerful forces.  This stellium is another indicator of a “natal promise” of a potential serious accident while traveling.

We next want to know whether in the months before or after June of 2000 (the demise of the native) there were any primary directions that activated these natal promises.  Using Janus software I calculated the Placidus semi-arc primary directions for 2000 with and without latitude, using the Morin’s preferred key of Naibod  (the key of Ptolemy would give dates several months earlier).

[image error]

The year 2000 looks fairly stressful from the point of view of primary directions.  Factors that stand out to me are the following:

In March the directed MC comes to Uranus (a symbol of accidents) in the 9th house (long-distance travel), activating the natal accident-prone stellium in the 9th.
In May (a month before the native’s demise) the square of Mars comes to natal Saturn in the whole-sign 3rd house (travel), activating the natal Mars sesquiquadrate aspect, which indicated the potential for a serious accident.
In early July (right around the time of the native’s death) the directed MC conjoins the 9th house Sun, activating the natal accident-prone stellium and the 8th house which the Sun rules.

Related to primary directions is the classic method of distributions in which the part of the sign (bound or term) that has risen to the ascendant plays an important role in the events of a period.  Here is a list of distributions for this natal chart around the year 2000:

[image error]

As you can see, in May of 2000 the Jupiter term of Aquarius has risen by primary motion to occupy the ascendant (horizon).  At the same time the opposition of Mars from Leo was also active, so that Jupiter (bound ruler) and Mars (participating ruler) was highly influential during the year 2000.  As we shall see (belos), Jupiter ruled the ascendant of the solar return for this period, and Mars was opposing solar return Uranus in the term of Jupiter in Aquarius at the time of the native’s death.  The Egyptian bound of Jupiter extends from 13 to 19 degrees of Aquarius.

Now lets look at the solar return for this period.  Here is the Solar Return for 1999-2000 with the natal chart outside the wheel.

[image error]

The solar return is the base chart.  There is a huge emphasis on the 8th house, with seven of the nine natal planets all in the solar return 8th.  Natal Mars closely conjoins the cusp of the 8th and oppose solar return Uranus across the wheel.  Mars opposite Uranus is a classic indicator of accidents.